The 20-year-old Jamaican was clearly ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt's Marius Wolf (13 per cent) and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi (7.4 per cent) in the VDV vote. In the previous vote, it was Ousmane Dembélé – now at Barcelona – who won out against Bayer 04 pro Kai Havertz.
Bailey, who scored nine goals and provided six assists for Bayer 04 in the Bundesliga last term, was also named in the 'VDV Team of the Season'by his fellow professionals – along with the two defenders Philipp Max (FC Augsburg) and Naldo (Schalke 04) and midfielder Naby Keïta (RB Leipzig) he was one of only four non Bayern Munich players in the line-up. Bailey received 41.9 per cent of the votes.
Top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) was awarded the 'Silver Boot' for the best player of the season and the coaches' 'Silver Bench' award went to Jupp Heynckes (Bayern Munich).
Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Getting in the mood for the new season together, exchanging ideas and looking ahead to the coming months: Bayer 04 welcomed partners to the BayArena for the annual sponsors season-launch event. In a relaxed atmosphere, the management, head coach and players came together with representatives from partner companies to celebrate the start of the 2026/27 season.
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Happy children’s faces at the SSV Lützenkirchen training ground: For the 25th time, the Birkenberg soccer school – organised by SportBund Leverkusen – offered participating youngsters an exciting holiday activity. Meeting a Bayer 04 player has now become a cherished tradition. This time, Ibrahim Maza visited the 150 children and spoke to them about his World Cup experiences, amongst other things. “It’s always lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for football,” said the 20-year-old, after bringing a sparkle to many eyes with selfies and autographs.
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Thanks in part to the tremendous support from the sold-out away end, Bayer 04 comfortably progressed to the DFB Pokal second round at the weekend with a 4–0 away win at SV Wehen Wiesbaden. 4,000 fans travelled with the Werkself to Hessen – ensuring an all-round successful start to the 2026/27 competitive season. Looking ahead to the coming weeks and months, fans are eagerly anticipating the next home and away matches, as ticket sales to date show. Among other things, the European season ticket is already sold out. Here the latest ticket update.
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